The invention concerns the field of heating, ventilation and/or air conditioning installations, notably for motor vehicles.
It concerns more especially brazed heat exchangers which comprise first and second pipes, called inlet and outlet pipes, and a bank of tubes opening out in at least one header. The header generally runs in a longitudinal direction, (preferably substantially vertical).
In some such installations, for example in condensers, the fluid enters the header in an upper part, and leaves in a lower part. The inlet and outlet are connected to the installation, by means of the pipes, to a common connector whose location can vary from one vehicle to another. Such a connection often necessitates complex shapes and little adaptability in the pipes, which makes them bulky and expensive by virtue notably of the bending operations.
Furthermore, in order to afford a good flow of fluid in these pipes, their radius of curvature must be at least equal to their external radius, which makes them bulkier still.
In addition to this there are the mechanical constraints of resistance to vibration, which further increase the complexity of the shapes of the pipes.
In order to overcome certain of these drawbacks, experts have proposed, in the publication DE 43 30 214 A1, to fabricate by extrusion headers with an integrated distribution tube, the latter being connected to the pipe at a given point. Such an embodiment is complex and very expensive, and does not afford true adaptability, which very significantly reduces its interest.
One of the aims of the invention is therefore to provide a heat exchanger which does not exhibit all or some of the drawbacks of the prior art.